Getting Stuck

[rose2014 81]

Hello everyone, I am a little over 4 months out of surgery. Total lost 70lbs since Feb 2014, down 40 since surgery May 14. I have a 10 cc band with 5cc in. My last fill she put in 1cc I have only lost 2lbs since the fill. Most evenings I have a stuck episode and the past last night was the strangest one of all. I ate and waited the hour to drink. About 1.5-2 hrs after eating I got a tight feeling in my back and chest. Nose started running, eyes began to Water. The pain is so bad that I thought I was about to die. Tried drinking Water, coughing it up but nothing, patted my chest nothing and then jumped up and down a little and again nothing. It finally subsided and I was able to return to my job. Has anyone had this before? Usually if I have a stuck episode it is typically right after eating not approx. 2hrs later. It only happens at my dinner meal. Thank God it did not happen tonight. Do you think I am too tight? If I was too tight would this be happening at each meal? I am also at my first stall :-(

Any help on this matter would be appreciated.

Rose

[2muchfun 8,927]

It can happen at every meal if you're too tight or you eat too fast or don't chew enough.

It took me 10 months to finally get the hang of eating slow and chewing more. I thought I had conquered the routine but I was wrong. Even after the 10 months I've continued to get better at chewing more and eating slower. But, I still get stuck a few times a week.

It's not as bad now though. I've developed this 6th sense and can feel when food is backing up into my esophagus and I stop eating. food normally passes through in 5-10 mins.

If you're stuck or have food backed up into your esophagus, Water will not pass through. Water will only expand your esophagus and that can be very painful. I too had one episode like yours. But just once. If you're having these kinds of episodes, you're eating too fast causing food to impact inside your esophagus. This can cause food up to an hour or more to pass. Be very careful you don't stretch/dilate your esophagus. jmo

tmf

[CherieRyde 227]

What you are describing is VERY familiar to me. Take an antacid. I'd go with Pepcid or a generic version of the same thing. The one I'm taking is dual action. Try that for a couple of weeks and report your findings to your Dr.

I had the same episode last night that you described. When I took my Pepcid, I could feel bubbling in my stoma. About 10 minutes after I took it, I let out a HUGE belch ... and felt 100% better.

[Bandista 7,466]

Hi Rose! First of all, congratulations -- you are doing great. Don't worry if the scale doesn't move all the time. It will! Look for non-scale victories, like clothes fitting differently, feeling more physically fit, how the mind games might be changing, etc. And speaking of brains and human behavior, I am some one who had to really work at my pacing -- how fast I was eating. And if I eat too fast I am not chewing properly. It helped to train myself to put the utensil down between bites. I resisted this which gave me some information right there -- I didn't want that implement out of my hand, so I looked at that behavior and did practice sessions on the clock. That also gave me a chance to listen for the signals of satiety. For me I might just kind of get bored, like I'm not as invested. Then I know I'm done. Just know you're well on your way and you'll get this figured out. Don't hesitate to call your surgeon's office as they may have a nurse or nutritionist who is there to help patients sort through post-op issues.

[lisacaron 5,075]

@@rose2014 great weigh loss! My advice to you is to give your Dr. a call and go in for a quick check of your band. If you are having issues like that more then once you could be stretching things as TMF said.

I recently was having trouble and I didn't think anything of it at the time, went on liquids for a few days thinking it would pass it was medication irritation of my stomach and consequently cause the stoma to swell making the space for food and Water to pass through VERY narrow.

I called the Dr. as soon as I felt like the issue wasn't getting better but was getting worse, and they found I had a dilation in my pouch and had to take out some fill to see if it resolves.

I would not panic about it, but it's always worth giving the doctors office a call and following up. Your doing so great, keep up the good work!!